Hopefully more than last year so we don't get worn down by late August.

Gillaspie and Sanchez are decent bench guys plus we have Morel and Escobar if they get hurt or falter. The IF is pretty well backed up.

Would prefer better backup options at C and OF, and it sounds like we don't have much immediate help in AAA, so Hahn my need to make a deal if an OF or Flowers misses significant time or falls into a really bad slump.

It's a double edged sword. These bench guys don't impress me or I suspect a lot of baseball. If they play you are seriously hurting your chances of winning, but as Russ said, if they DON'T play then it will be the same old second half blues like we've seen so often the past 10 years.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Maybe they can contend and actually pick up some help at the deadline? (Should that be in pink??)

I think Gilaspie will get some time early and the rest of the season will depend on how he plays in his first stints.

Gimenez looks to have a nice little stick and he is lefty. From what I have heard the pitchers like him. While I have wished for a better option to back up the unproven commodity that is Flowers, I think Gimenez might be a present surprise. Maybe a left handed Castro.

Sanchez I don't know what to expect from because he is backing up two solid defenders in Beckham and Alexei. Can anyone provide any insight on his speed or base running ability? I don't know how I like Wise being pinch runner and our only back up OFer.

Wise, who I'd prefer a better player in our OF spot, but Atleast we know what to expect. It doesn't hurt that he can field and run though.

He played at least one inning of OF last year, on the final Saturday of the season. Robin trotted out a bunch of pinch hitters in the bottom of the 8th because they were getting killed, and part of the fun being there was trying ot figure out who was going where in the field. Gimenez played outfield.

"Genius is not replicable. Inspiration, though, is contagious, and multiform — and even just to see, close up, power and aggression made vulnerable to beauty is to feel inspired and (in a fleeting, mortal way) reconciled."
--David Foster Wallace, () "Roger Federer as Religious Experience"

I think Gilaspie will get some time early and the rest of the season will depend on how he plays in his first stints.

Gimenez looks to have a nice little stick and he is lefty. From what I have heard the pitchers like him. While I have wished for a better option to back up the unproven commodity that is Flowers, I think Gimenez might be a present surprise. Maybe a left handed Castro.

Sanchez I don't know what to expect from because he is backing up two solid defenders in Beckham and Alexei. Can anyone provide any insight on his speed or base running ability? I don't know how I like Wise being pinch runner and our only back up OFer.

Wise, who I'd prefer a better player in our OF spot, but Atleast we know what to expect. It doesn't hurt that he can field and run though.

Is this true? From what I gathered it looked like he couldn't hit much at all and was purely here for his defensive strengths. I'm willing to give the guy a shot but I'd feel better with more of a veteran presence to back up Flowers.

Is this true? From what I gathered it looked like he couldn't hit much at all and was purely here for his defensive strengths. I'm willing to give the guy a shot but I'd feel better with more of a veteran presence to back up Flowers.

A lot of guys with nice sticks play 11 total MLB games in their careers at the age of 30.

On teams that carry two catchers, which is pretty much every team anymore, backup catchers get more playing time, at least more starts, than a lot of bench players. Last year backup catchers started more than 40 games, and Pierzynski was more durable with the Sox than I expect Flowers will be.

I don't expect Samchez to get many statrs, but he won't need a lot of starts to keep sharp. Wise will get enough playing time to upset many here, but I suppose that woul be the case if he didn't play much at all. Wise, though, is a good player to have on the bench because he can be effective coming off the bench. It doesn't really work to have an all-star on your bench if he needs a lot of playing time to play like an all-star.

It's the Gillaspie thing I'm really not sure about. Gimmenez and Sanchez seem good bench players in the sense that they can come off the bench and give you what they can. Gillaspie has always stuck me as a player who needs playing time to stay sharp offensively. I don't know that he is suited at backing up third and first any more than Keppinger is suited backing up second and third.

Often teams that have strong players riding the bench don't end up getting what they should out of the players if they can't give them enough playing time.

I know I'm in the minority in holding this view, but I think the Sox might b more effective offensively without a virtually full-time DH. Rotating players in at DH keeps bats in the lineup while resting the players. It can help a manager from wearing down his regulars and it can help a team with bench players who need more playing time to stay sharp.

Is this true? From what I gathered it looked like he couldn't hit much at all and was purely here for his defensive strengths. I'm willing to give the guy a shot but I'd feel better with more of a veteran presence to back up Flowers.

I definitely have agreed with your last statement but knowing Hahn is settled on Gimenez he's looked better than I expected. While I know it's only ST, he has shown a decent little stroke and his stats in the minors (yes, I know the minors) have been good for a catcher the last few years.